This invention relates to the art of butchering, and more particularly to an apparatus for automatically removing the bones from whole poultry (especially chicken) legs.
There are numerous prior devices for removing bones from drumsticks, and some for deboning thighs. However, we are unaware of any prior device or method which debones whole legs, without separating the drumstick from the thigh.
Recently developed deboning machines have focused particularly on the breast, and the market has demonstrated high consumer acceptance of deboned breasts. The value of a breast can be significantly enhanced by removing the bones prior to sale. It now appears that a similar market exists, or would exist, for deboned whole chicken legs. The present invention addresses the problem of removing bones from whole legs, which present problems different from, and in some respects more difficult than, breasts.
In our copending application, we described an apparatus for separating the bones from the flesh of a chicken leg, particularly the thigh bone (femur). We have since improved the apparatus by providing a mechanism for scraping the tibia and fibia so as to pull the drumstick meat toward the knee joint, without severing from the thigh meat. That portion of the apparatus is new to this application.